NEWSLETTER

SPRING, 1996

MRDS AT KALAMAZOO, May 9-12, 1996

Crossdressing on the Medieval Stage

Organizer: Robert Clark, Kansas State University
Presider: Theresa Coletti, University of Maryland

1. "Young Wives Played by Males: The Case of Percula in York 30," Richard Rastall, University of Leeds
2. "'Wigstock' 1496: Transvestism in the Medieval English Cycle Drama," Marlene Clark, Graduate Center-CUNY
3. "'Into a womannys lyckenes': John Bale's Personification of Idolatry," Garrett Epp, University of Alberta

Hrotsvit: Dramatic Works

Organizer & Presider: Margaret Pappano, Columbia University

1. "Hrotsvitha Says 'Burn This': Worthy Words for Wealthy Women," Julie Crosby, Columbia University
2. "Hrotsvita Writes Herself: Clamor Validus Gandeshemensis," Barbara Gold, Hamilton College
3. "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Cloister: Hrotsvitha and the Tradition of Ancient Comedy," Mark L. Damen, Rice University

   Respondent: James Dominick Cain, Columbia University

Session 324. Saturday, May 11
3:30 p.m. Room 300

Between the Acts: Early English Drama from the Henrician Act of Uniformity (1534) To the Elizabethan Settlement Act (1559)

Organizer & Presider: John C. Coldewey, University of Washington

1. "Parish Drama and Parish Crisis in England: 1535-65," Alexandra Johnson, University of Toronto
2. "New Models for Court Drama: 1535-62," William R. Streitberger, University of Washington
3. "Civic Pomp and Reformed Circumstance: The London Midsummer Watch and its Fortunes, 1535-1565," Anne Lancashire, University of Toronto
4. "Traces of the Medieval in Early Protestant Polemical Drama," Peggy Knapp, Carnegie Mellon University

Theater, Dance, and Spectacle in the New World

1. "Death and the Art of Archery: A Sixteenth-Century Morality Text from Aztec Mexico," Robert Potter, University of California-Santa Barbara
2. "Holy Week Rituals in Sixteenth-Century Spain and New Spain," Susan Webster, University of St. Thomas
3. "The Testimony of Antonio de Ciudad Real: Native Dances, Christian Plays, and Military Theatre in Sixteenth-Century New Spain," Max Harris
4. "The Indian in the Allegory: Native Elements in the Pageants and Entries of Early New France," Martin W. Walsh, University of Michigan

The popular morality play Mankind - perhaps PLS' most performed play, with at least three prior productions - enjoyed a short but successful run October 19 to 22 in conjunction with the Centre for Medieval Studies' Annual Conference, "Paths and Destinations." The play was performed in the Junior Common Room of University College, a tudor-style hall which is particularly suitable for the performance. Thanks to the enthusiastic efforts of the cast and the support of the PLS team, directing Mankind was as much fun as expected. From the constantly hilarious antics of the Vice characters to the solemn experiments with the colour and consistency of the edible excrement, there was never a dull moment in our all-too-brief rehearsal period. Ruth Barrett as a strong, caring Mercy maintained the moral balance of the play against the barely-controlled comic chaos of Mischeif and her three stooges.

Mankind was also "revived" for a second production in January, functioning as a fundraising event for PLS. It was performed on Sunday, January 14, 1996, at 2:30 p.m. at the Alumni Hall, Victoria College.

The meeting was held in the Humanities Block at UCSM, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 30, 1996. Two guest speakers were featured:

• Max Harris, Wisconsin Humanities Council:
  Reading the Mask: towards a Hermeneutics of Folk Theatre
  
• Thomas Pettitt, Deptof English, University of Odense:
  Mummers Plays and Medieval Theatre

The fee for the day was £12, including morning coffee, lunch, tea, and the Abram Morris. Max Harris's visit was sponsored by MEMORI (Medieval and Early Modern Research Initiative), a collaboration between UCSM and Lancaster University English Departments. Thomas Pettitt was funded by his own institution.

The Committee for the Advancement of Early Studies in conjunction with the editors of Classical and Modern Literature: A Quarterly announce the 1996 $1000 Incentive Award, offered by the editors of the Quarterly for outstanding scholary work in the combined fields of a Classical (Ancient Greek or Latin) and a Modern Literature or Culture. Eligible for this award are scholars who have or will have had the Ph.D. Conferred between 1 January 1989 and 1 July 1996. Send to the Convener statements of nomination (name, academic address, field of specialization, short vita) along with supporting materials (paper, list of publications and papers, support letters if desired). The winner of the 1996 award will present the paper at the Conference and then receive the award from the editors of the Quarterly at the Conference Banquet. Deadline: May 15, 1996.

The Committee for Advancement of Early Studies invites established scholars to share their years of experience and valuable research with the conference participants. Finished papers should be limited to a twenty to twenty-five minutes presentation in order to leave five to ten minutes for questions. Please send five copies of a one page abstract to the Convener. Deadline: May 15, 1996.

The competition is for ten- to fifteen-page essays by superior undergraduate students. All suitable papers will be awarded presentation time of twenty to twenty-five minutes, and small monetary prizes will be awarded for the best research presented. Please send five copies of the completed paper to the Convener. Deadline: May 15, 1996

If you would like to chair a session of the conference, please write me as soon as possible. If you would like to sponsor a special session, please write immediately:

Bruce W. Hozeski
Convener, CAES Conference of 1996
Department of English
Ball State University
Muncie, IN 47306-0460
Telephone: (317) 285-8456 or (317) 285-8580
Fax: (317) 285-3765
Email: 00BWHOZESKI@BSUVC.BSU.EDU

Note: The CAES Conference continues to welcome presentations from all academic areas of Early, Medieval and Renaissance Studies and wishes in particular to expand the number of presentations in Classical Studies, including the Classical Tradition.

COMPARATIVE DRAMA

"Master Harold" and the Bard: Education and Succession in Fugard and Shakespeare, p. 415
David E. Hoegberg

A Reassessment of the Date and Provenance of the Cornish Ordinalia, p. 436
Gloria J. Betcher

Shakespeare's Italian Dream: Cinquecento Sources for A Midsummer Night's Dream, p. 454
Robert W. Leslie

Liturgy and Community in N-Town Passion Play I, p. 478
Victor I. Scherb

Settling House in Middleton's Women Beware Women, p. 493
Ann C. Christensen

Reviews

Peter Happé: Jonson and the Contexts of His Time,
by Robert C. Evans, p. 519

Ralph Berry: Gender in Play on the Elizabethan Stage: Boy Heroines and Female Pages,
by Michael Shapiro, p. 521

Robert C. Evans: Theatre and Government under the
ed. J.R. Mulryne and Margaret Shewring, p. 526

Margaret J. Arnold: Shakespeare's Christian Dimension: An Anthology of Commentary,
ed. Roy Battenhouse, p. 529

Grace Tiffany: Recovering Shakespeare's Theatrical Vocabulary
by Alan C. Dessen, p. 532

Index to Volume 29, p. 538

"'The Rights of the Player': Evidence of Mimi and Histriones in early Medieval Scandinavia,"
by Terry Gunnell

"A Newly Discovered Fragment of a Visitatio Sepulchri in Stockholm,"
by Nils Holger Petersen

"'Diverse Galskaber' in Ibsen's The Wild Duck"
by Brian Johnston

"Strindberg's Cosmos in A Dream Play: Medieval or Modern,"
by Göran Stockenström

"The Virgin Spring and The Seventh Seal: A Girardian Reading,"
by William Mishler

*Extra copies of this special issue will be printed for $10 each. Please order them from Comparative Drama, c/o Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008 (or get a year's subscription or an individual for only $18).

Back numbers of Comparative Drama may be obtained at $10.00 per issue from Medieval Institute Pulbications; most numbers are in short supply, and the following are out of print: Vols. 1-3; Vol. 7, Nos. 1-3; Vol. 7, Nos. 1, 3-4; Vol. 8, Nos. 1-3; Vol. 9, No. 3; Vol. 10, Nos. 1-2; Vol. 11, Nos. 2-4; Vol. 12, No. 1; Vol. 19, No.3; Vol. 20, Nos. 1-4; Vol. 22, No. 2; Vol. 23, No. 4. Complete Vols. 4-6, 13-18, 21, 24 29 (four issues each) are available for $35.00 per volume year.

The following special issues are available as paperbound books from Medieval Institute Publications: Vol. 25, No. 1, as Iconographic and Comparative Studies in Medieval Drama ($10.95); Vol. 27, No. 1, as Medieval Drama on the Continent of Europe ($12.00); Vol. 28, No. 1, as Early and Traditional Drama: Africa, Asia, and the New World ($12.00); and Vol. 29, No. 1 as Emblem, Iconography, and Drama ($12.00); add $3.00 for handling and mailing for the first book, $.50 for each additional book.

Address editorial correspondence to: The Editors, Comparative Drama, Department of English, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-3899, U.S.A. Books for review should also be sent to this address.

Business and production office: Comparative Drama, Medieval Institute Publicationsk, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-3801, U.S.A. Checks (in U.S. Dollars only and drawn on an American bank) should be made payable to "Comparative Drama"; Mastercard and Visa are now accepted (expiration date required).

"Set Pieces and Special Effects in the Liturgical Drama - I,"
by Dunbar H. Ogden

"From Synthesis to Compromise: The Four Daughters of God in Early English Drama,"
by Hans-Jürgen Diller

"English Law in the York Trial Plays,"
by Elza C. Tiner

Reviews

Ingrid Peterson
O.S.F.
Richard K. Emmerson
Douglas Sugano

Performances

Fletcher Collins, Jr.

Recent Publications (includes publications of interest in art and music, as well as drama.

The Early Drama, Art, and Music Review (formerly The EDAM Newsletter and now also incorporating Medieval Music-Drama News) is published by Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, U.S.A. Subscriptions are $8 per year for individuals and $10 for institutions. Payment in U.S. funds or by VISA or Mastercard is required. Manuscripts submitted for possible publication should be sent to: The Editor, The Early Drama, Art, and Music Review, The Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008. Especially welcome are short articles or notes of interest to researchers working on drama, art, and/or music. Short reviews or notices of performances of medieval music-dramas are invited. Brief news items are also included as space allows.

• editor, Fools and Folly, published by EDAM

  -Contents-

  List of Illustrations
  Introduction by Clifford Davidson
  "The Cheval fol of Lyon and Other Asses," by Sandra Billington
  "The King His Own Fool: Robert of Cicyle," by Martin W. Walsh
  "Forgotten Fools: Alexander Barclay's Ship of Fools," by Robert C. Evans
  "Staging Folly in the Early Sixteenth Century: Heywood, Lindsay, and Others," by Peter Happé
  "The Fool as Social Critic: The Case of the Dutch Rhetoricians' Drama," by W.N.M. Hüsken
  "Sienese Fools, Comic Captains, and Every Fop in His Humor," by Robert W. Leslie
  Index

• "The Farced Epistle as Dramatic Form in the Twelfth Century Renaissance," Comparative Drama 29 (Fall 1995), 363-81.

• "The Dramatic Testimony of Antonio de Ciudad Real: Indigenous Theatre in Sixteenth-Century New Spain" will appear in Colonial Latin American Review, Vol. 5, no.2, 1996.
• "The Return of Moctezuma: Oaxaca's danza de la pluma and New Mexico's danza de los matachines " will appear in The Drama Review some time in 1996.

• "Renaissance Queens and Foucauldian Carcerality," forthcoming in Renaissance and Reformation
• "French Accents in the Henry VI Plays?" forthcoming in Folio
• "'Denmark's a Prison': Hamlet and the Earl of Bothwell," forthcoming in Hamlet Studies
• "'Absolute Milan': Two Types of Colonialism in The Tempest," in The Journal of Anglo-Italian Studies 4 (December 1995)
• "Art and Nature in Women Beware Women," forthcoming in Renaissance Forum

• Winter Fruit: English Drama, 1642-1660
  Probably the most blighted period in the history of English drama was the time of the Civil Wars, Commonwealth, and Protectorate. With the theaters closed, the country at war, the throne in fatal decline, and the powers of Parliament and Cromwell growing greater, the received wisdom has been that drama in England largely withered and died. Not so, demonstrates Dale Randall in this magisterial study, the first book in nearly sixty years to attempt a comprehensive analysis of mid seventeenth century English drama. Throughout the official hiatus in playing, he shows, dramas continued to be composed, transmuted, published, bought, read, and even covertly acted. Furthermore, the tendency of drama to become interestingly topical and political grew more pronounced. In illuminating one of the least understood periods in English literary history, Randall's study not only encompasses a large amount of dramatic and historical material but also takes into account much of the scholarship published in recent decades. Winter Fruit is a major interpretive work in literary and social history.

  456 pages
  ISBN 0-8131-1925-1; Cloth US$39.95
  Phone orders: 1-800-666-2211